Missouri audit finds flaws in puppy mill inspection

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.–A Missouri Department of Agriculture audit released on February 15 found major conflicts of interest in the state breeding kennel inspection program.

Editorialized the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “State Auditor Claire McCaskill found that state inspectors did not cite a single breeder for any kind of violation in a two-year period. Worse, two men in the state inspection program,” namely chief inspector G.A. Salmon and deputy Tom Hawley, “had puppy mill money flowing directly into their family coffers from facilities run by their wives.” Hawley doubles as regional president of the Missouri Pet Breeders Association.

USDA to allow quicker rescue

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

WASHINGTON D.C.–An amendment to the federal Animal Welfare Act enforcement regulations taking effect on February 2, 2001 allows the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to “allow animals confiscated from situations detrimental to their health to be placed with non-USDA licensed persons or facilities,” such as humane societies and sanctuaries which are not under USDA jurisdiction because they are not normally engaged in interstate commerce.

“With this new regulation,” said Cat Fanciers Association legislative coordinator Joan Miller, “APHIS inspectors will be able to move more quickly and efficiently to remove animals [from abusive situations] when necessary for their health, and get them into the hands of shelters and rescue organizations that can care for their needs.

Farm Bureau kills Arkansas felony cruelty bill–again

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

AUSTIN, LITTLE ROCK, ST. PAUL–A bill by Arkansas state representative Jim Wood (D-Tupelo) to make Arkansas the 32nd state to punish especially heinous cruelty to animals as a felony cleared the state house judiciary committee 11-7 on January 30, but was killed by the full house on February 2, 21-66. Though Wood himself is a farmer, the bill was vehemently opposed by the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation.

As with Wood’s first attempt to pass a felony cruelty bill, in 1999, Farm Bureau lobbyists argued that exemptions for “routinely accepted livestock, poultry, or aquaculture management practices or routinely accepted animal husbandry practices” were not strong enough.

Similar bills have been introduced this year in Minnesota, by state senator Don Betold (DFL-Fridley) and Texas, by state representative Manny Najera (D-El Paso).

VP wife Lynne Cheney is fur coat advocate

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:
The most influential voice on animal issues in the White House of George W. Bush may be American Enterprise Institute fellow Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney–and that won’t be good news for animal defenders.

Bush rolls back animal and habitat protection

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:
WASHINGTON D.C.–Rolling back animal and habitat protection, especially last-minute actions of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, was a top priority for new President George W. Bush during his first month in office.

Immediately after inauguration Bush ordered the Federal Register to delay listing new regulations until after they are reviewed by his Cabinet. Listing in the Federal Register is the final stage of a regulation taking effect. The Bush order included the January 17 creation of six new national monuments, by executive order of Clinton, who created 17 new monuments in all during his term, covering 5.6 million acres.

AHA Hollywood office hit by L.A. Times

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

LOS ANGELES–Los Angeles Times staff writers Ralph Frammolino and James Bates charged on February 9 that the Hollywood office of the American Humane Association is “slow to criticize animal mistreatment, yet quick to defend the studios it is supposed to police.” The AHA has monitored unionized Hollywood screen productions since 1939, by contract with the Screen Actors Guild.

Frammolino and Bates cited four purported key examples of AHA failings. Two involved alleged abuse off-set, beyond the reach of the Screen Actors Guild contract. One involved a film called Simpatico which used the AHA seal of approval without authorization. The last was a severe injury suffered by one of about 400 horses used in 1998 on the set of The 13th Warrior, filmed in British Columbia.

Hunters try to get ’em young

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:

ALBANY, JUNEAU– Sixteen juveniles have used hunting weapons, primarily, to kill 27 people and wound 50 in 14 school shooting incidents since 1995, but state legislatures from New York to Alaska are still trying to put more guns in children’s hands.

Twelve-year-olds have been allowed to hunt “small game” with light-caliber weapons in New York since 1992, but first-time hunting license sales have since fallen by 29%. Governor George Pataki is therefore backing two budget bills, A-2000 and S-1148, which would cut the minimum age for deer and bear hunting from 16 to 14. Deer and bear hunters typically use rifles and ammunition which can kill at a range of up to two miles.

Herro of Las Vegas takes new role

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001.

LAS VEGAS–Mary Herro, who started the Animal Foundation in 1988, opened a $3.5 million new shelter on February 8, and retired from personally directing shelter operations to focus on running the Las Vegas pet licensing program. Herro told ANIMAL PEOPLE almost exactly one year earlier that this would be the next phase of her quest to make Las Vegas a no-kill city.

The first phase was opening the Animal Foundation high-volume neutering clinic, now the model for others around the world. The second phase was wresting the Las Vegas animal control contract away from Dewey Animal Care, a for-profit firm which still does animal control for Clark County and North Las Vegas. That was in 1995. Already the fast-growing Las Vegas human and owned pet populations are about 25% higher, and the Las Vegas and Clark County totals of animals killed have correspondingly continued to edge up.

S.F. ignores live markets law, says Mills

March 1, 2001 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2001:
SAN FRANCISCO–Mini-mal humane standards governing the sale of live animals as food now supposed to be law in California are not enforced in San Francisco, Action for Animals coordinator Eric Mills charged in a February 12 open letter to the S.F. Board of Supervisors. The live market standards were set by AB 2479, introduced by now-state senator Sheila Kuehl, who was then in the state assembly. The new law took effect on January 1.

Wrote Mills, “Last week I visited four markets in Chinatown. I saw turtles and frogs stacked atop one another without either food or water, crushing those on the bottom. I saw live fish out of water gasping for breath, and dead and dying fish and crustaceans crammed into dirty aquaria. The Kuehl bill bans these inhumane practices. In two markets I saw Florida softshell turtles, a species not allowed in the markets, but which I see on a regular basis.

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